PERFORMERS: BOB NEWHART

Born: September 5 1929

by PETER TATCHELL (reprinted from LAUGH MAGAZINE #4, 1992)

U.S. television starred Bob Newhart’s in five network series in thirty years. His strike rate was two hits (The Bob Newhart Show CBS 1972/8 and Newhart CBS 1982/90) and three misses (The Bob Newhart Show NBC 1961/2, The Entertainers CBS 1964/5 and Bob in 1992). Viewers preferred watching him in sitcoms over variety shows, despite the fact that his initial successes were with a number of brilliant one-man sketches performed specifically for record release.

In the latter half of the 1950s, Chicago accountant Newhart was earning some extra money writing and performing comedy routines for radio. On hearing some examples of his work, Warner Bros. records decided he’d be ideal for the burgeoning market of humorous discs. Preferring the release to be performed in front of a live audience, they arranged a venue in Houston and unleashed the nervous Newhart on an unsuspecting public.

The debut LP The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart was an enormous success, and Newhart deserted the world of accountancy for a career in show business. In all, he recorded a further six albums in the 1960s before concentrating on his acting skills on television and (occasionally) in movies.

Then, in 1992, after three decades of weekly television, he recreated his classics for a new audience and this performance has found its way on to compact disc, video and dvd. Included are several bits never previously recorded along with some clever digs at political correctness in regard to the original material.

Bob Newhart may have achieved a quarter of a century of success with middle-America through his television roles, but there’s no denying the cleverness and longevity of the three or four dozen monologues he performed in his early years.

Most of the routines find him either addressing a group (of office workers, sailors, passengers on a plane) or having a conversation with another individual. It’s usually a meek little man caught up in some outlandish situation trying to solve the problem without causing any fuss. On several tracks he highlighted a famous historical figure being assessed by modern day standards.

His satires on cut-price airlines and the attitudes of bus drivers remain gems over forty years later as do his character studies of the submarine commander and driving instructor who find themselves in the midst of awkward and stressful situations.

For those who have only encountered the latter-day Newhart via television, an eavesdropping of his earlier material is highly recommended.

The Windmills Are Weakening (1965)
Warner Bros. LP W(S) 1588Edison’s Most Famous InventionKing KongThe Upset Stomach CommercialReturning A GiftSuperman And The DrycleanerBuying A HouseBen Franklin In Analysis

This Is It (1967)
Warner Bros. LP W(S) 1717Prenatal TwinsDaddy Of All HangoversTopless ClubsOn Trains And PlanesModem WitchdoctorPussy Cat

Bob Newhart Off The Record (1992)
Pickwick CD PWKS 4215
recorded at the Raymond Theater in Pasadena in 1992 …IntroductionSchool for Bus DriversKing KongThe Driving InstructorAbe Lincoln Versus Madison AvenueCruise of the U.S.S. CodfishDefusing the BombThe Nude Line-UpIntroducing Tobacco to CivilizationThe Retirement Party

The Button Down Mind and The Button Down Mind Strikes Back were re-released asThe Button Down Mind Deluxe Edition.
Warner Bros. 2LP 2N(S) 1399,
as The BestOf The Button Down Mind
Murray Hill 2LP OP 2529 1379/1393
and as The BestOf The Button Down Mind
Warner Special Products CD OPCD 2529

Videos and DVDs

The following releases are different edits of the same performance at the Raymond Theater, Pasadena in 1992

Off the RecordPickwick Video PV 2184 (1992)A Brief History
Bob at the Unemployment OfficeSchool for Bus Drivers
King Kong
The Driving Instructor
Abe Lincoln Versus Madison Avenue
Cruise of the USS Codfish
Defusing a BombThe One-Eyed Bullfighter
Nude Line Up
Edison’s Real InventionIntroducing Tobacco to Civilization
The Retirement Party

Button Down Concert – Off the Record20th Century Fox DVD (2006)A Brief History
Bob at the Unemployment Office
School for Rude Bus Drivers
King Kong and the New Security Guard
The Nervous Driving Instructor
The Airplane Captain Speaks to his PassengersAbe Lincoln’s P.R. Man
Cruise of the USS Codfish
The One-Eyed Bullfighter
Selling Baseball to the Board Game Company
Nude Police Line Up
Edison’s Real Invention
Sir Walter Raleigh Explains Tobacco
The Tipsy Accountant’s Retirement Partyplus a 20 minute documentary Bob Newhart: Unbuttoned

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